India now has close to 4.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and has overtaken Brazil to become the second most infected country in the world after the US.

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Cities like Delhi, which seemed to have got a grip on how to manage the infection, have again started to witness a spike in the number cases with daily caseload quadrupling in the last three weeks. After a lot of dialogue in various circles about how citizens are coping up with COVID-19, LocalCircles conducted a survey to understand the extent of the spread among social networks of people, and psychology and fear of the virus. The survey received over 24,000 responses from people residing in 221 districts across the country.

In the first question, citizens were asked what is the one thing that they are most fearful about with regard to the pandemic. Five percent said social alienation, 29 percent said infecting their family members or colleagues, 22 percent said being in a hospital, 8 percent said their case becoming extreme, and 6 percent said dealing with local officials.

Seventeen percent mentioned other reasons and loss of earnings, family care, lack of information etc. were their biggest fear, while 13 percent said they were not fearful about anything. This shows that when it comes to COVID-19, infecting family members and colleagues and being in a hospital are two things which the highest number of Indians are fearful of. In the second question, citizens were asked how COVID-19 has impacted their social network, which is their family, extended family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, business associates etc., including themselves.

Thirty-one percent said they knew six or more individuals who had COVID-19 while 34 percent said they knew 2-5 individuals who have contracted the disease. Twelve percent said they knew one individual who had COVID while 20 percent said that no one around them has been infected so far. This means that 77 percent citizens now have one or more contacts in their social network who had been infected with COVID-19.

In a similar survey conducted in May and July this year, this number stood at 31 percent and 7 percent, respectively, showing how quickly the virus is spreading in the social networks of people. When asked how many individuals in their social network in the last six months did not get a COVID test done despite having symptoms and instead went into self-quarantine or treatment at home, 14 percent said more than 10 people, 10 percent said 6-10 people, 14 percent said 2-5 people and 10 percent said one individual. As many as 52 percent of the respondents were unsure about it. Many people are scared of getting a test done due to the fear of getting admitted to a government hospital or due to the high treatment expenses involved in some private hospitals.